Dual-tire rims



Nov. 7, 1961 w. M. BROWN DUAL-TIRE RIMS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 16,1959 INVENTOR. WALLMI E M. BRGWN HTTURNE Y5 W. M. BROWN DUAL-TIRE RIMSNov. 7, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 16, 1959 INVENTOR. WALLACE M.BROWN f-H'TORNEYS 3,907,741 DUAL-THEE RIMS Wallace M. Brown, Seattle,Wash, assignor to Pacific Car and Foundry Company, Seattle, Wash, acorporation of Washington Filed Mar. 16, 1959, Ser. No. 799,793 4Claims. (Cl. 3431-13) This invention relates to improvements in themounting of dual-tire rims, and particularly multiple-piece rims of thatt pe known in the automotive industry as earthmover rims.

Eanthmover rims, as generally produced, are comprised of separate rimsfor the inner and for the outer of the wheels dual tires, the two rimsbeing separated by a spacer sleeve and each such rim including an innerintegral gutter portion against the end face of which the spacer sleevebears. The two gutters are each internally flared with the smallerdiameter being in each instance innermost. The vehicle wheel on whichthe rim is to be mounted presents a cylindrical surface of rather longaxial extent terminating at the inner end in a shoulder flared incorrespondence with the flare of the inner rims gutter portion. Inmounting the rims the procedure is to first feed the inner rim onto thewheel and bring the flaring face of its gutter against said flaredshoulder of the wheel, whereupon the spacer sleeve is applied, followedby the outer rim. The distance from the flared shoulder of the outer ofthese applied rims to the exposed face of the wheel is quite aconsiderable distance, commonly varying with diflerent overall widths asbetween inner extrerne tire edge and outer extreme tire edge from aminimum of 6%." to a maximum of 9%. In securing the rims in place thepractice heretofore has been to employ a cylindrical wedge band of awidth moderately exceeding this said distance and having a nose taperedin correspondence with the taper of the outer rims tapered hub, slippingthis ring onto the outer portion of the wheel to bring such nose againstthe tapered hub, and then cinching the band by the use of clamping nutsand lugs engaging the front face of the ring at spaced intervals of thecircumference, the nuts working on wheel-carried studs.

There are several major objections to the use of a cylindrical ring as ameans of securing the dual-tire rims in place. One such objection liesin the fact that its annular nose is incapable of exerting asubstantially uniform thrust to the bearing hub of the rim throughoutthe entire circumference of the latter. Another major objection is thata cylindrical ring tends to freeze upon the cylindrical surface of thewheel over which it is applied and makes for difliculty in removal. Astill further and particularly serious objection is that the use of acylindrical wedge band demands a fairly considerable space between theouter surface thereof and the inner surface of the rim so that the twowill not become so bound in use as to preclude the ring from beingbacked off when removal is required, and the consequence of leaving thissaid space between ring and rim is that the rim, in use, becomes subjectto considerable radial deflection under stress of road impact beforefinding bottoming engagement against the band. The incidence of breakagehas been very high.

The present invention proposes to provide a mounting for earthmover rimswhich overcomes all of the enumerated objections and which has thefurther advantage of assuring an unusually strong and serviceablemounting instrumentality which can be manufactured with economy inmaterial and which requires no change in the construction either ofexisting wheels or of existing rims.

With these and still additional objects and advantages in view, theinvention consists in the novel construction hired rates i atent all)and in the adaptation and combination of parts hereinafter described andclaimed.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary longitudinal vertical section portraying clampstructure embodying teachings of the present invention applied inmounting a standard dualtired rim on a standard earthmover wheel.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary transverse vertical sectional view drawn to anenlarged scale on line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a detail perspective view showing one of the segmentalclamping members of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 1 portraying a modified form of clampstructure.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary transverse vertical sectional view drawn to anenlarged scale on line 5-5 of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a detail perspective view showing one of the modified clampingtongues which are illustrated in FIG. 4.

Referring to said drawings, the numeral 1% indicates a conventionalearthmover wheel having its external surface substantially cylindricalexcepting for the provision, at the inner end, of a peripheral collar llmerging with the cylindrical surface by a flaring shoulder 12.

The frontal face of the wheel is necked down at the periphery to presentan exposed circumferential rabbet l3, and at equidistant intervals ofthe circumference the floor of this rabbet is bored and tapped toaccommodate a plurality of threaded studs 14- arranged to receiveclamping nuts 15.

Designated generally by 17 and 13, respectively, the rim assembly forthe inner tire and the rim assembly for the outer the are commonly eacha composite affair with the parts connected by welding and exceptingthat the same are reversely applied so that gutters 2d and 21,respectively, of these rim assemblies each occur at the inside, one infacing relation to the other, and thus have the flared internal surface22; of the former directed inwardly toward and the flared internalsurface 23 of the latter directed outwardly from the vehicle frame, the.two rim assemblies are or may be identical in construction. The sleeve24 which is arranged to be introduced as a spacer between the twogutters 2t? and 21 bears against faces 25 of the gutters, and the endsof the gutters opposite these bearing faces present a circumferentialledge 26. A cylindrical sleeve 27 of quite considerable length seats byits inner end upon this ledge and has its outer end seated on a similarledge 23 provided by a wing section 2%. An outer side flange 31 for therim assembly bears against an upstanding rim 32 provided by the wingsection. An inner side flange 33 beru's against a split bead seat band34 removably applied to the rim assembly at the inner end thereof. Asplit locking ring 35 holds this band 34 against lateral displacement.

it will be apparent from arr inspection of the drawings that the flaredinternal surface 22 of the inner rim gutter 2% seats upon the flaringshoulder 12 of the Wheel, and that the length of the wheel between saidshoulder and the facing rabbet 13 very appreciably exceeds the spanbetween the two gutters. The flared internal surface 23 of the outer rimgutter 21 thus is removed inwardly a material distance from this rabbet.

According to the present invention, and in lieu of the cylindrical wedgeband which has heretofore been slipped over the wheel and pressedinwardly against said flared surface 23 of the rim gutter as a means ofcinching the rim in place, the present invention provides a plurality ofsegmental clamp members. I have shown two embodiments thereof with theone illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 3, and the other illustrated in FIGS.4 through 6.

First considering the former said embodiment, each said clamp member isangular in shape with one leg 40 thereof being quite short and the otherleg 4-1 being quite long.

These two legs will hereinafter be termed heel and tongue sections,respectively. Considered in more particularity, said tongue 41 has alength moderately exceeding the length of that portion of the wheelwhich projects beyond the flared surface 23 of the outer rim gutter Z1,and upon the inner end thereof presents a nose 42 sloped in exactcorrespondence with the flare of said surface 23. The inner surface ofsaid tongue is sectionally concave so as to fit more or less snuglyagainst the cylindrical external surface of the wheel. The heel section46 of said clamp member has a length approximating the depth of therabbet, considered along a radius of the Wheel, and a hole 44 is drilledtherethrough in position to register with and receive a threaded studI'ld therethrough. A nut 15 applied to the stud self-evidently exertsclamping pressure through the tongue of the clamp member to the outerrim gutter. Each clamp member has its heel section undercut, as at 46,to present a lip overhanging the nose prolongation 16 of the wheel, andthe purpose thereof is to accommodate a pry-bar should need thereforarise in freeing the clamping member from its wedged engagement with therim.

As will be seen from the drawings, the tongue of each clamp member issomewhat thickened at its root point of juncture with the heel sectionso as to resist bending deformation as between the tongue and the heelas clamping pressure is exerted from nut 15 upon the heel member. Theshoulder 47 produced by this thickening closely underlies the sleevesection 27 of the rim 38, leaving little more than bare tolerancetherebetween. The clearance which this tolerance provides is such aswill permit free introduction of the tongue to and Withdrawal of thetongue from the interstice between wheel and rim, but it is importantthat the clearance be held to a minimum in that it provides a bottomingstop substantially preeluding that portion of the rim which overhangsthe wheel from being deflected in any substantial degree Proceeding nowto describe the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 4, and 6, it will beseen that, for each clamping member, a functioning counterpart Stl ofthe heel section is made a separate piece from the tongue 51. No needthus arises to unduly thicken the outer end although the significantprovision of little more than bare tolerance between such outer end ofthe tongue and the rims surrounding sleeve section 52 is necessarilyretained. As with the tongues 41, each tongue 51 presents at its innerend a nose 53 sloped in exact correspondence with the flare of a surface54 provided by a gutter section 55 of the rim, and has its underside,considered in end elevation, formed to a concave configuration snuglyfitting the cylindrical external surface of the wheel 56. The outer endof the tongue projects Well beyond the outer face of the wheel, and twoholes 57 spaced apart transversely at opposite sides of the longitudinalmedian line of the tongue pierce such projecting portion and are adaptedto selectively receive the levered end of a pry-bar for freeing thetongue from its wedged engagement with the gutter of the rim. Provisionof two holes selectively employed insures a ready disengagement of atongue in the event that the same should become unduly bound in that thewedge bond can be broken first by rocking one side and then the otherside in the initial extraction of the tongue. A transverse incised notchhaving a V-shape in profile, with the outer wall disposed normal orapproximately normal to the plane of the tongues underside, can perforcebe provided on the underside of the tongue in lieu of the holes 57 It isthought that the advantages of the invention will have been clearlyunderstood from the foregoing detailed description of the illustratedembodiments. Minor changes in the details of construction will suggestthemselves and may be resorted to without departing from the spirit ofthe invention, wherefore it is my intention that no limitations beimplied and that the hereto annexed claims be iven a scope fullycommensurate with the broadest interpretation to which the employedlanguage admits.

What I claim is:

1. in the described mounting of dual rims upon a wheel of the earthmovertype presenting upon its periphery a cylindrical surface of extendedlength terminating at the inner end in a flared shoulder, said rimsbeing axially separated by a spacer sleeve and, excepting for gutters atthe facing ends and against which the spacer sleeve bears, having aninternal diameter substantially greater than the diameter of saidcylindrical surface and generally parallelin the latter, the gutter ofthe rim which lies to the inside having its internal surface flared inmating correspondence with said flared shoulder of the wheel so as tobear against the shoulder, the gutter of the outer rim having itsinternal surface correspondingly flared but reversely directed so as toface outwardly, said last-named gutter, when the rims with the spacingsleeve are applied to the wheel, being removed inwardly from the frontalface of the wheel a distance which approximates at least half the widthof the parent rim, the combination with the rims and the wheel, meansfor securing said rims to the wheel comprising a set of clamp membersapplied to said wheel at equidistantly spaced intervals of thecircumference and each comprising a tongue seating upon the perimeter ofthe Wheel with its inner end bearing against the flared internal surfaceof the last-named gutter and its outer end exposed beyond the frontalface of the wheel, and a respective means for clamping each of thetongues taking its purchase from the Wheel and acting to force thetongue inwardly against the concerned gutter, said tongues other thanfor their engagement with the gutter being spaced from the internalsurface of the outer rim throughout the entire length of the tongue andbeing characterized in that the spacing is, however, so minor at leastat the extreme outer end of the tongue that a bottoming stop is producedsubstantially precluding that portion of the rim which overhangs thewheel from being deflected to any discernible degree, radial to thewheel axis, as the tire mounted on said outer rim travels over rocks andother irregularities commonly encountered along the edge of a roadway inwhich the earthmover is being Worked, the exposed portion of each tonguepresenting a means accommodating a pry-bar to facilitate removal of thetongue.

2. Structure according to claim 1, the front face of the wheelpresenting a shoulder disposed approximately parallel with the rotaryaxis of the Wheel and facing outwardly, the exposed portions of saidtongues each having at least one hole piercing the same and serving toaccommodate a pry-bar for removing the tongue, the clamping meanscomprising, for each tongue, a respective lug disposed radially of thewheel with its inner end bearing in the corner angle defined betweensaid outwardly facing shoulder and the front face of the wheel and itsouter end bearing against the outer end of the tongue, clamping pressurebeing exerted on said lug intermediate said bearing points by anut-and-bolt combination drawing the lug toward the frontal face of thewheel.

3. Structure according to claim 1 in which the underside of each tonguepresents a concave configuration when viewed from the end providing anexact mating fit with the surface of the wheel on which it seats.

4. Structure according to claim 1, said means for clamping the tonguescomprising respective lugs disposed radial to the wheel with the innerend of each fulcrumed to the frontal face of the wheel and the outer endleveraged against the outer end of the related tongue by a clamping nutworking on the exposed end of a stud threaded into the wheel, the wheelproviding a shoulder against which said inner end of the lug bears tolocalize the lug relative to the wheel.

(References on following page) References Cited in the file of thispatent UNITED STATES PATENTS Clausen Nov. 4, 1924 Swain July 27, 1926 5Martin Dec. 25, 1928 Brunner Dec. 22, 1931 6 Woodward June 6, 1933Burger Aug. 22, 1933 Sauzedde Mar. 17, 1936 Walther Oct. 16, 1956 PowersJan. 29, 1957 Fahlman et a1. Ian. 7, 1958 Brink Feb. 24, 1959

